Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends: Complete First Season (1961)
Film:
DVD:

Produced by Jay Ward & Bill Scott
Starring the voices of Bill Scott, June Foray, Paul Frees, William Conrad, Walter Tetley, Edward Everett Horton, Hans Conried

Features:

• All twenty-six first season episodes
  
• "Dear Bullwinkle" segments
  
• Commercials and promo spots
  
• Savings Stamp Club episode
  
• "The Many Faces of Boris Badenov"
  
• Two episodes from the upcoming release of Season 2
  

Released by Classic Media
Rating: NR
Region: 1
Anamorphic: N/A; appears in its original 1.33:1 format.

My Advice: Own it.

From Frostbite Falls, Minnesota, comes a pair of the greatest heroes the world has ever known. We're talking about Rocket J. Squirrel (voiced by Foray) and Bullwinkle J. Moose (voiced by Scott). Over the course of this first season of their serialized adventures, they will not only turn a baking accident into an unparalleled scientific discovery, but they will also deal with a nefarious plot to overturn the world's economy. Behind most of their trials and tribulations are the notorious spies Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale (voiced by Frees and Foray), who would be a lot more effective if their Fearless Leader (Scott) would make up his mind whether or not to finally "Keel Moose".

I watched this show when I was a kid; everybody did. You did too, whoever that is shaking your head back in the back there. You know you did. Watching it again now, so many (too many, in fact) years later, I'm finding the same reaction to what happened when I would catch a Looney Tune in my sojourn in so-called adulthood. These things aren't just funny; they're damn brilliant. Why? Because they're so terribly subversive in their clever wordplay and humor. When you're eight, there's no way in hell you can pick up on this. But now--well, let's just say that sadly, in today's environment, this show could never have happened, or at least not in its present form. More twisted and risque than perhaps you remember, such as Bullwinkle reciting the poem "I Love Little Pussy". Or there's Badenov stating, in one of his many guises, that his face is on every three dollar bill in the country. When Rocky replies that he's never seen a three dollar bill, Boris snaps, "Is it my fault you're poor?"

The backup segments--the "Friends" of the title--are here as well, with Peabody and Sherman, Aesop and Son and Dudley Do Right, though my favorite segment is still the Fractured Fairy Tales with Edward Everett Horton providing narration. Thus you get a "Jack and the Beanstalk" with a fairy godmouse and other such mad interpretations.

The best news I can give you is that the cartoons themselves look gorgeous. They've been digitally remastered and they're extraordinarily clean. Happy as hell to see good cartoons looking like they're brand new; it always warms my heart. While the shorts themselves are cool enough to make a set like this worth owning, they were kind enough to bring some features along with them. There's a sixteen page booklet that contains information on Scott and Ward, a letter from Tiffany Ward (Jay's daughter) among other bits. You also get four segments of "Dear Bullwinkle", with a live action puppet answering letters asking for love advice. These bits, humor-wise, are hit or miss--but regardless, it's wild to see this live action Bullwinkle that apparently was never used.

You also get commercials and promo spots, most of which are funnier than anything you'll find on television today. A nice rarity is the "episode" regarding the Savings Stamp Club, which urges people to buy bonds. As the booklet points out, it's one of the only occasions in which Rocky, Bullwinkle, Peabody and Sherman all interact. So how cool is that? You also get a small montage of Boris Badenov in his many disguises, which is fun out of context.

Between the episodes themselves looking righteous and the features, any self-respecting DVDophile will want this thing among their collection. It's classic stuff, and trust me: it's funnier than you remember.